In the first part of the preview for the championship of England 2006/07 “SPORT today” noted the teams whose prerequisites for improving the game are the highest. Here - about the teams that failed to solve their problems this summer, or even made new ones.
 | MANCHESTER UNITED -15% |  |
Tangible acquisitions: Michael Carrick (Tottenham Hotspur), Tomasz Kuszczak (West Bromwich, rental).
Significant losses: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Spain), Tim Howard (Everton), Jonathan Spector (West Ham), Quinton Fortune (Bolton).
Place last season: 2nd.
Ambition: championship.
Words: “Carrick’s acquisition of £ 18.6 million, five years after Verona’s purchase, clearly demonstrates that Alex Ferguson has not lost all of his qualities. At least one - a rare ability to pay stupidly big money for average players, ”- Guardian.
Summary: As if there was no sensitive defeat from Chelsea in the championship race of the past season. As if it was not Manchester United that was the last in his group of the last Champions League. As if draws in cup matches with amateur teams, like with Burton Albion last season, for the Reds, it’s in the order of things. Alex Ferguson refrained from any notable reconstruction of the squad and spent almost all of the $ 33 million allocated for the selection to Michael Carrick, in whom the new Roy Keen saw the United coach. Instead of quarreling with Ferguson, van Nistelrooy chose not to look. It all goes to the point that Manchester United will again have to confine itself to some sort of a “consolation prize” - like the recent Carling Cup. Scholes, Giggs, Gary Neville and van der Sar will not be younger in the new season. Brown and Fletcher will not become technical. Sulscher will not increase resistance against injuries. Also, one should hardly expect a surge of friendliness between Rooney and Ronaldo. From a completely pessimistic assessment of Manchester's summer 2006, one thing holds back: Heinze recovered. And the new Polish talent Kushchak is a really cool goalkeeper.
 | WIGAN -15% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Emil Heskey (Birmingham), Danny Landzaat (AZ, Holland), Emmerson Boyce (Crystal Palace), Fitz Hall (Crystal Palace), Chris Kirkland (Liverpool, rental), Louis Antonio Valencia (Villarreal, Spain).
Significant losses: Jason Roberts (Blackburn), Jimmy Ballard (Fulham), Damien Francis (Watford), David Thompson (Portsmouth), Stefan Anshaw.
Place last season: 10th.
Ambition: Top 10.
Words: "Wigan will have a hard time." The surprise factor is gone. The main sniper Jason Roberts, who cannot be replaced by any Heskey, also left. Plus, the “Ipswich” factor is a team that, after winning fifth place in 2001, flew out of the Premier League, ”- Guardian.
Summary: The rise of Wigan is perhaps the most striking in all of European football in the last decade. Back in the 2002/03 season, the team played in the fourth division, achieved three promotions in three years, and almost reached the Carling Cup and a place in the UEFA zone last season. The upcoming book on the exploits of the club from a working camp from the English Northwest promises to be a bestseller, and American producers have already acquired the rights to shoot a film about the club. Meanwhile, in parallel with this joyous bustle, the team is preparing for the hardest season. Wigan’s authority grew at a much slower pace than its athletic and financial performance, and last summer, cool footballers reacted to the proposals of the Paul Jewell team without interest. I had to buy pseudo-class ones - like Emil Heskey (for $ 11 million!), Who couldn’t confirm his sniper status even at Birmingham. The rightmost Dutch national team, Danny Landzaat, is a decent player, but also barely worth $ 5 million at the age of 30. Meanwhile, 3 out of 5-6 players who predetermined his success last season - Roberts, Ballard and Thompson left the Wigan. If the team copes with these difficulties, it will be safe to sell the license for the second film.
 | BLACKBURN -10% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Francis Jeffers (Charlton), Benny McCarthy (Porto), Jason Roberts (Wigan).
Tangible losses: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Paul Dickov (Manchester City), Lorenzo Amoroso, Vratislav Greshko.
Place last season: 6th.
Ambition: UEFA Zone.
Words: “Transforming Blackburn from an outsider into a UEFA Cup member makes Mark Hughes the most promising young coach in the British Isles,” Times.
Summary: In the 2006/07 season, Blackburn is entering a new status (participant in the UEFA Cup), with a completely updated attack, but with the same game guidelines. This is a stable, mature, tough, sometimes even cruel team, in which the concept of “hard work” has a higher priority than “class” or “thinking”. The game will again be built around the players who embodied these qualities to the greatest extent - Robbie Sevage (11 yellow + 1 red card last season), Lucas Nill (11 yellow) and Stephen Reed (7 yellow). A negative assessment of summer 2006 was made by “SPORT Today” not so much because the new forwards of the team are worse than the previous ones (although there is such a suspicion). Just changes deprive her of the element of stability, which for Blackburn is among the key.
 | BOLTON -10% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Quinton Fortune (Manchester United), Abdoulaye Meite (Marseille, France), Idan Tal (Maccabi, Tel Aviv, Israel).
Significant losses: JJ Okocha (Qatar), Bruno N'Gotti, For the sake of Jaidi (both “Birmingham”), Halil Fadiga.
Place last season: 11th.
Ambition: UEFA Zone.
Words: “Fortunately for Bolton, FA chose the wrong coach for England. While Steve McLaren and Middlesbrough's super-expensive squad struggled to survive, Sam Allardyce, without much money, made Bolton a very nice team, ”FourFourTwo.
Summary: If the word "nursery" is often used in relation to Arsenal or West Ham, then the definition of "nursing home" is still more suitable for Bloton. Such an unpresentable characteristic does not deprive the game of the team of Giannocopoulos, Campo, Speed and Borghetti a modest but undoubted charm. The "Minus" for the summer of 2006 is exposed due to the fact that with the departure of JJ Okochi this charm will become less. And also due to the fact that the solution to the problem of the pathological failure of the Bolton attack is still not visible.
 | CHARLTON -10% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Amdi Fay (Newcastle), Jimie-Floyd Hasselbink (Middlesbrough), Jimi Traore (Liverpool), Gonzalo Sorondo (Inter, Italy), Simon Walton (Leeds).
Tangible Losses: Francis Jeffers (Blackburn), Sean Bartlett (Kaiser Chiefs, South Africa), Jay Botroyd (Wolverhampton), Chris Perry (West Bromwich).
Place last season: 13th.
Ambition: Top 10.
Words: “How old is the Charlton rookie Hasselbeink there? 93? The club, apparently, relies on the Dutchman’s luggage, but almost all of this Hasselbayn’s luggage today is around his waist, ”- Guardian.
Summary: A club with a London residence permit and provincial identity (zealous, stable, never aiming at a lot, but not missing its own) will open a new chapter in its history. After leaving Charlton after 15 years of continuous work, Alan Kerbishley left Alex Ferguson as the only long-term coach of the Premier League. Ian Dowie, known for the most illegible in the Premier League English and the tightest shorts (Dowie always personally pre-matches his teams) is writing a new chapter. To what extent does the impetuous coach, who brought Crystal Palace from the championship to the Premier League and vice versa, fit the quiet Charlton - one of the most entertaining questions of the new season.
 | FULHAM -10% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Jimie Ballard (Wigan), Frank Cedrew (Middlesbrough), Gabriel Zakuani (Leighton Orient).
Tangible Losses: Stead Malbranc.
Place last season: 12th.
Ambition: Top 10.
Words: “Last season, Jose Mourinho named Chris Coleman the best British league coach, even before Fulham beat Chelsea, FourFourTwo.
Summary: In the new season, Coleman, the best coach of the United Kingdom according to Jose Mourinho, will have a hard time. The crisis of the goals of “Fulham” (the owner Mohammed Al-Fayed has cooled down to the club and is no longer inclined to spend money or even time on it) may well turn into a game crisis. Especially due to the reluctance to remain in the team of its leader Stead Malbranc, despite the current contract. It is possible, however, that Coleman will come up with something again - he is a really good coach.
 | RADING -10% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Seoul Ki Hyun (Wolverhampton).
Tangible Losses: None.
Place last season: Second place in the "championship", the second English division.
Ambition: Survive.
Words: “Reading has enough speed and energy to surprise the public this season,” Alan Purdue, West Ham head coach.
Summary: “Reading” meets its first (in 135-year history) season in the strongest English league with sparkle in the eyes, fire in the heart, but a rather narrow circle of game virtues. The downgrade by 10 points on the SPORT Today scale is due to the widely publicized intentions of the current owner of Reading, John Madezhsky, to sell the club.
 | Middlesbrough -5% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Julio Arch (Sunderland).
Tangible Losses: Frank Cedrew (Fulham), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbeink (Charlton).
Place last season: 14th.
Ambition: UEFA Zone.
Words: “Finally, Middlesbrough began to repair the reputation of the“ mass grave for forwards ”. Last season, Hasselbeink, Viduka and Downing scored 52 goals for three, ”FourFourTwo.
Summary: Steve McLaren, who led the England national team at Middlesbrough, was replaced by Garret Southgate, an ex-defender of the team and national team. But so far there is no reason to believe that in the new season Middlesbrough will change his football, which fans call “attacking”, romance - “reckless”, and critics - “defenseless”. Middlesbrough, with all its names (Mendietta, Boateng, Rochemback, Viduka, Downing, Yakubu) can achieve a decent result only in cup tournaments. Middlesbrough ceiling in the championship - 10th place.
 | Everton 0% |  |
Tangible acquisitions: Andrew Johnson (Crystal Palace), Joleon Lescott (Wolverhampton), Tim Howard (Manchester United).
Tangible losses: Nigel Martin (retired), Duncan Ferguson, Lee Tee (Sheffield United).
Place last season: 11th.
Ambition: UEFA Zone. Achieving a positive balance in matches with Liverpool.
Words: “This is England’s most unpredictable team. To state this, it is not necessary to compare the results of the last four years (7th place, 17th place, 4th place, 11th place). Just look at the failed start and a decent finish last season, ”- FourFourTwo.
Summary: David Moyes received significant money for manning and spent it in his favorite way - for a diligent, militant guy of Anglo-Saxon descent, who probably reminds him of himself by character and, possibly, even externally. This is the brightest sniper of the second division Andy Johnson ($ 17 million), even attracted to the England team. Also, a promising quarterback Joleon Lescott ($ 10 million) was acquired. It is difficult to predict what all this will turn out to be - no one else is taken to predict the results of the Everton Moyes in England.
 | WATFORD 0% | |
Tangible acquisitions: Damien Francis (Wigan), Chris Powell (Charlton), Dan Schitt (Queens Park Rangers).
Tangible Losses: None.
Place last season: Third place in the "championship", the second British division.
Ambition: Survive.
Words: “If Watford manages to repeat the game shown in a friendly match with Inter (1: 1) another 38 times, it may well remain in the Premier League,” - Guardian.
Summary: Watford, according to all bets, is the main contender for the relegation: it is he, according to bookmakers, who will be subject to the official statistics of the English championship in the new season (46.7 newcomers to the Premier League leave it in the first season).